Chapter 11

AN: Thank you for the reviews. This will get better, but it's going to take some time. Morning update, probably will have an evening one, too...

Derek was irritated. He didn't like feeling like this, like a caged tiger ready to pounce. He wanted to think this whole thing with Garcia didn't bother him as much as it did. If she thought badly of him, if she didn't give a damn about him or care about what he thought, if she didn't think as highly of him as he thought she did, she could simply go fuck herself. He thought he could do that; cut her out of his life as effectively as she did him.

He tried tonight. He tried to go out on a date with a willing woman who actually wanted him. He was looking forward to it. The date started off okay, one thing lead to another and he ended up at her place. He had his tongue down Monette's throat, his hand up her shirt, and his eyes closed, thinking about another woman. How she smiled, how she laughed, how much better she tasted.

It was an unmittigated disaster. He was getting hard, but it had nothing to do with moaning Monette. He ended up having to leave.

He didn't want any other woman. He just wanted Penelope. She was like a fever in his blood, he had to have her.

He ended up at the training center, running his ass off. He started jogging around the track. It was raining and cold, but he didn't care. He needed to burn off the excess frustration and energy he had.

The worst part of it was he knew she wanted him too. It was clearly evident every time he looked into her beautiful, sherry brown eyes. They flashed with desire, total want for him…. That she quelled immediately.

He didn't bother hiding it. He wanted her. He wanted her. He knew he would never stop wanting her, either. It hit him so many times that weekend exactly how right being with her felt. Nothing ever felt like that for him before. In her arms, inside her, being near her, he felt like he was home. Over the weekend, something remarkable happened. For the first time in his life, Derek was certain he was in love.

Being without her magnified that feeling. He couldn't remember a more miserable week than this one, void of her smiles, her laughter, her kisses, her sighs. She amounted to being essential for his well being, like water and air.

He tried this week to cajole her, to talk her into coming back to him. He tried sex. Their mutual want was something. He didn't know what else to do to convince her; he knew he was good at sex. He knew he satisfied her. He wasn't afraid to use it to build on, to get her to see more in him.

It didn't work. The woman considered him a walking joke when it came to relationships. She thought all he was good for was sex and a few laughs. He was pissed, but he felt she was somewhat justified in her thinking. He never had a real relationship in thirty-nine years.

He shook his head. After all these years, he finally gets it right. He finally wanted to settle down and the one woman he wanted didn't want him.

She said the weekend didn't mean anything to him; she was dead wrong. It meant the world to him. He didn't bother to clarify her thinking. Listening to her, how she really felt, just made him angry and upset. He wasn't going to be a fool and declare anything to her; it wouldn't have done any good.

Derek stopped running. He was going like a bat out of hell. He could barely drag a breath in his lungs and his joints were starting to ache. He brought it down to a reasonable jog and started thinking, but shook his head. He stopped and stood there, letting the rain fall on his upturned face. He was done with solutions for the night.

He headed inside and swam a few laps in the pool before showering off. He was ready to hit the heat of the sauna. His left knee absolutely ached from overdoing it on the track. Humidity caused his knee to flare up anyway. He was going to have to rest it for a day or two. Hopefully there'd be no one to tackle for awhile.

He pushed the door to the sauna in, quickly getting hit with a mouthful of hot, dry air. He squinted his eyes, searching for a bench that would be good to sit on for awhile. He laid his towel down and took a seat, put his left leg up, and closed his eyes. He wasn't going to think of a damn thing for a good long time.

Penelope was on the elliptical runner at the training center. She tried to hit the machine at least three times a week, but she hadn't been there for a few days now. She was too busy avoiding Derek, who was there all the time. No sign of him tonight; thank God for small favors. Then again, he wouldn't be there tonight; he told her he was on a date.

It hurt worse than she ever could imagine. She didn't like they weren't talking, she didn't like what she was becoming, jealous and angry. In almost six years, they rarely had arguments strong enough to last a whole afternoon, much less days. There was the Battle Brawl, there was the Tamara Tangle, and now there was the Sex Scandal

She still wanted him. She wanted him as her best friend most of all, but she wanted him in bed for a month, too. She couldn't lie about it. She wanted him so badly, she physically hurt. She thought of how fun it would be, working out any sexual kink she could think of. Of course, he probably didn't feel that way. He had Monette, who was probably double jointed.

She smiled nastily to herself. She bet that woman didn't know half the things she knew about satisfying Derek. Penelope worked hard to know exactly what Derek craved; she wanted to please him so badly.

Did Monette know he liked the side of his neck licked before biting him gently? Or that he loved it so much if she was on top, his glittering black eyes practically glowed? Did Monette notice he had a beauty mark right at the top of his right inner thigh, or that he loved to snuggle after he came?

She felt like bawling. She didn't want Monette to learn anything about Derek. She didn't want any other woman near him. She wanted him to simply be hers.

She wiped away tears with her sweat towel. This didn't change anything. Just because she felt that way didn't mean he changed his thinking about anything. He was still a player who liked to play. Having sex with her, albeit really fantastic sex, didn't make him a one-woman man.

She frowned. This was her own fault. She ended it to keep her heart safe. That was such a stupid thing to do; she knew he already had her heart from the get go. All she was now was a bitter bitch who couldn't stop arguing with him. That merely hurt him and herself, too.

She was back at square one, frustrated, sad, lonely and out of solutions. She was getting a headache. It didn't do any good to think anymore. She took a quick shower and headed towards the sauna. It was always a good thing to get the impurities out of her pores. Her mother had been a strong believer in holistic therapies and felt a good sweat was good for the spirit.

She opened the door, then shut it quickly so none of the steam would release. "Whew!" she said, feeling the heat immediately.

She looked up to see Derek sitting to the right, his left leg up on the bench. He had a towel folded under his knee. Slow droplets of sweat were starting to form on his chest, his shoulders and his forehead.

She simply couldn't move. She just started at him, like he was the most remarkable thing she ever saw in her life. It wasn't far from the truth; he was so beautiful. She watched as a droplet of sweat rolled off the tip of his nose, down between his pectoral muscles, past his rippled abs to pool in his navel. She licked her lips, fighting the urge to go over, kneel between his legs and lick that same path the drop took.

She looked up and met his eyes. He was smirking at her. "Like what you see?"